Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year since 2003 to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.

Since 2015, its format has been revised to celebrate the PBD once every two years and to hold theme-based PBD Conferences during the intervening period with participation from overseas diaspora experts, policy makers and stakeholders. These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities. These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

Eighteen PBDs

To connect India to its vast overseas diaspora and bring their knowledge, expertise and skills on a common platform, the PBD Convention - the flagship event of the Ministry of External Affairs is organized in January.

Eighteen PBDs have been held in various places of India so far as follows:

The 18th PBD Convention was held from 8–10 January, 2025 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha as Partner State. The theme for the 18th PBD was "Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat”.

The 18th PBD Convention was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on January 09, 2025. H.E. Christine Carla Kangaloo, the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, was the Chief Guest of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. She addressed the convention virtually.

Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi remotely flagged off the inaugural journey of the special tourist train for the Indian diaspora, Pravasi Bharatiya Express, which left Delhi on that day for travel to multiple destinations of touristic and religious importance in India for a period of three weeks. During his address, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India emphasized the need for creation of a database to identify the villages and cities in India from where Girmitiya community originated and the places where they have settled, establish a Girmitiya Study and Research Centre (GSRC) to serve as a dedicated research and documentation hub to preserve the history, culture, struggles, and contributions of the Girmitiya diaspora, partner with a University to initiate research on Girmitiya legacy and establish a University Chair for it, document lives of Girmitiya community through films and documentaries, organise regular World Girmitiya Conferences, partner with countries connected to the Girmitiya Community etc. Hon’ble Prime Minister also reiterated his "Chalo India” tourism campaign for the diaspora, encouraging each of them to visit India with five foreign friends. He emphasized the goal of making India a developed nation by 2047, a Viksit Bharat, and highlighted the importance of the GIFT City ecosystem in meeting the financial services and investment needs of the diaspora besides encouraging them to leverage their potential to strengthen India's journey towards development.

Hon’ble Rashtrapati ji, Smt. Droupadi Murmu presided over the Valedictory Session and conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025 to select Indian diaspora members to recognize their achievements and honour their contributions to various fields, both in India and abroad.

The 18th PBD Convention had five thematic Plenary sessions that saw participation of diaspora experts. The Plenary sessions chaired at Ministerial level, discussed contributions and developments made by Indian diaspora in innovations, new technology, sustainable development with green environment, mobility of work force, entrepreneurship, propagating India’s cultural heritage, etc. and envisaged how diaspora can be an active partner for India for progressing in all these sectors. The other elements of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas included a Youth segment, a State segment and a Joint Business Session which were organised on 8th January, 2025. Dr. Dev Pragad, CEO, Newsweek from the USA, was the Guest of Honour at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which provided a platform for youth from all over India to interact and engage with the Diaspora Youth. The State of Odisha, in its segment, showcased its culture, tourism, trade and investment opportunities to the Diaspora participating in the PBD Convention.

Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (RPBD)

Ministry has been organizing Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Conferences (RPBD) to reach out to a vast majority of our diaspora, who for various reasons, are unable to attend the main biennial event in India and benefit from its deliberations. This is in response to a strong and persistent demand for holding such events regionally. These have elicited enthusiastic support from the Indian diaspora and the local Governments and have been highly successful. So far, ten RPBDs have been held as per details below:

Chief Guests at PBD Conventions

Archives

The year wise list of Speakers of various PBD events is as follows

The year wise list of Speakers of various PBD events

Sr. No.	Year	Download
1	2025	139 KB
2	2023	101 KB
3	2021	21 KB
4	2019	21 KB
5	2013	21 KB
6	2012	19 KB
7	2011	23 KB
8	2010	22 KB
9	2009	104 KB
10	2008	84 KB
11	2007	92 KB
12	2006	83 KB
13	2005	104 KB
14	2004	93 KB
15	2003	113 KB

The year wise list of PBD Theme Paper is as follows

The year wise list of PBD Theme Paper

Sr. No.	Year	Download
1	2025	283 KB
2	2023	250 KB
3	2021	1.53 MB
4	2019	1.53 MB
5	2013	1.53 MB
6	2012	242 KB
7	2011	1.76 MB
8	2010	1.55 MB
9	2009	1.02 MB
10	2008	906 KB